For Them
by SuperMehr
Summary: For them, I did it for them. Finally they were working as some sort of a family. This family of a father with his adopted sons and legitimate one care for each other, even if they do not show it. Me? I am just a bystander watching from the sidelines. I would do anything to keep this family together, even if it meant taking place of Damian in the League of Assassins and leaving mine


For them, I did it for them. They seemed so happy together. I could not let that change. Finally they were working as some sort of a family. This family of a father with his adopted sons and legitimate one care for each other, even if they do not show it. Me? I am just a bystander watching from the sidelines. Sometimes I get included in their family, but I have my own home. I would do anything to keep this family together, even if it meant taking place of Damian in the League of Assassins and leaving my own.

* * *

"It is time. I want my son back," the mother of the child stared at her lover's eyes through his mask. "He is ready to come back."

The man in the bat mask stared back at the woman, looking into the same eyes as his son's.

"He is Robin now," replied the man in a deeper voice than usual. "He sees himself as it, too. Not even you can change his mind."

The mother narrowed her eyes, "he will come back to me eventually."

"That may be true, but not now."

"We will see, my love," she smirked with a small fire burning in her eyes.

"Talia, what are you planning?" Batman narrowed his eyes as if trying to see into Talia's mind. Talia walked up to Batman and gave him a kiss before turning around and walking away.

"One way or another, he will be mine." Talia started walking off towards the edge of the building they were standing on. The Gotham wind was a little chilly that night, but the atmosphere was 10 times worse. Batman watched as Talia took off into the night. A strained silence filled the air.

"Batgirl." Batgirl nearly jumped when she heard her name being called, "I told you to go home." Batgirl did not say anything, but walked out from where she was hiding. She walked towards Batman and stood beside him starring at where Talia had taken off.

"Don't worry; she isn't going to take Damian away." Even though Batgirl said it, she knew the situation was far more dangerous. It had been a while since Talia stopped by, meaning that Talia must have come up with some sort of plan.

"Go home Batgirl, you have school tomorrow."

Batgirl let out a sigh and took off from the building in the direction of her home. Once she knew she was out of Batman's site, she changed directions and tried to follow Talia's trail. It took a bit longer than it should have, but after looking into security cameras she headed towards the docs where she believed Talia would be waiting.

Batgirl swung from building to building until she saw the docs before her eyes. She landed on top of a near by roof to get a closer look at the docs. As Batgirl looked around at the boats, she saw one that did not seem to fit any docking schedule that she knew of. _Though that isn't out of the ordinary, it is suspicious._

Batgirl quietly took off from her building and headed towards the mysterious boat. She landed on the ground and rolled behind a bunch of crates while stealthily creeping towards the boat. With each step Batgirl took, she noticed how bizarrely silent the whole area was. She looked around one of the crates towards the boat and did not see a single person nearby. _Could she be here by herself?_ Batgirl thought. Batgirl decided to listen to any sounds before continuing towards the boat. Batgirl's eyes widened. While spinning around, she pulled out a batter rang and took a defensive stance.

"Looking for something?" Talia stood across from Batgirl with her arms crossed.

"The docs, really?"

"After you found our first location, we needed another."

"Speaking of which, Talia, have you considered my offer?" Batgirl lowered her defense stance.

"Oh yes, it is quite an interesting offer, but my question is why. Why would you want to give yourself up?"

Batgirl let out a sigh. "They all have a crazy and deadly past dealing with their family. If you were to pull one out now, they wouldn't know how to deal with themselves. It would break them apart. They would either close themselves off from each other again or run away. They would likely try to come up with plans to bring Damian back. They have somehow managed to create a family, and taking Damian away would kill them _and_ Damian."

"What makes you say all of this?"

"I have been by their side for years. I have been there since the first Robin. I have watched them all form the sidelines. They don't show it, but they care for each other too much to let one go. They had already lost one Robin. They can't lose another, at least not now. Not after they have slowly gotten used to each other's ways."

Talia stared at Batgirl thinking about what Batgirl was offering. "What will you do for me?"

"Like I told you, I know I can't replace Damian, but maybe I can take his place for now. Or maybe become an apprentice of some sort. I can be pretty valuable. Give me a book or other information and I can have it memorized by going through it once. I have been fighting with the Batman for years and I have done other things that have helped me. I just don't think it would be wise to take Damian away."

"Do you realize what you're saying? You're asking to leave all of this life behind, including your father. Are you willing to do that?"

Batgirl let out a sigh, "I always think things through before going with a plan. I realized that." _Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Tim, and even Damian, they all have been there for me in their own ways, especially Bruce and Dick. _"I want to repay them."

"Very well then, I will take you up on your offer." It took Batgirl a little effort to hold back how shocked she was that Talia went with the idea. "We could try it out for a while and see how it goes. You will need to listen to everything I say and follow every rule."

Batgirl nodded, "wait." Talia stopped and looked at Batgirl. "I'm sorry and I know that this was my idea, but for this to work properly we need to take precautions."

"I'm listening."

"To be honest, I don't want my dad to think I just ran off and if I up and disappeared not only would he have the police from everywhere looking for me, but also Batman."

"So what do you suppose?"

"School ends in three weeks and four days. Bruce Wayne is a major donor for my school. If I were to create a scholarship for studying abroad, my dad would not question it."

"Fine, what about Bruce?"

"When he notices how much trouble I went through to create this scholarship, then he probably will pick up the clues and realize where I have gone. I think that he would live with it, but he would not be okay with my decision. He will be able to get his sons to not look for me, well maybe after a little while though. Of course, they would question him at every corner."

"I see your point. He would know that you are with me and he would be fine with it. He would think that I see this as a trade, fair enough. Let's just hope those boys do listen to him for their safety." Batgirl inhaled deeply as Talia continued speaking. "I will be back in three weeks and four days to come and get you. I will contact you when the time comes. "

Batgirl nodded her head. _I would do anything to keep them together, for them._

* * *

Creating the scholarship wasn't that hard. There used to be one at the school many years back. After hacking into the school's system, it was easy to find a copy of one of the certificates. Good thing I can mimic Bruce's signature. The only problem now is that I have to get a plack made in my name. The plack would say something along the lines of "in honor of Barbara Gordon's academic career, she has been granted the Wayne Scholarship."

I hate lying to my dad, but I guess I do that every day when I don't tell him I'm Batgirl. But right now I feel guilty. It's probably because I'm going to be away from him for a long, long time. But here I am in our apartment waiting with dinner for him to come home after work as commissioner. I turned my head towards the door as I hear keys rattling on the other side. I take in a deep breath and let it out preparing for what is to come.

* * *

The door opened and the Commissioner walked in. The Commissioner saw his daughter and smiled, "evening Barb, I thought you would have eaten by now." The Commissioner said as he went to put his hat and coat up on the rack.

"I just got finished with homework a little while ago, so I decided to wait." Barbara got up to hug her father. "How was work?"

"Gotham is as crazy as ever. Honestly, I didn't think I would make it home in time for dinner," he said as he patted Barbara's head.

"Well you did, so go get changed into something more comfortable so we can eat." As Jim walked to his room, Barbara walked back to the dinner table and started putting food on her plate. A couple minutes later, her father joined her and did the same.

"Hmm… Eggplant parmesan. It looks really good Barb," Jim said before digging in. Barbara smiled and continued eating. Jim looked up at his daughter when she didn't say anything. He swallowed his food down and looked Barbara directly in her eyes. "Is something the matter, sweetie?"

Barbara looked up somewhat shocked. "You can always tell when I'm a little off." Barbara let out a sigh and got up. She walked to her book bag, pulled an envelope out, and handed it to her father. Her father put his fork and knife down to take the envelope. With a raised eyebrow he opened the envelope as Barbara sat back down at the table. Quickly skimming through, he got the gist of what was written.

"I… I don't know what to say… It's not like I don't think you could have gotten this but… Wow, Barb… It's a full ride, too! How did you manage to get this? Your grades and everything must be better than I imagined to get a study abroad scholarship like this."

"Dad…" Barbara said with an eye roll.

"I'm serious Barb, this is amazing."

"Yea well, I don't know if I should go…"

"And why not?" Jim looked at his daughter with surprise, "you have always told me you wanted to go abroad to learn all different kinds of things."

"Of course I would love to go! But I would be leaving you here all alone." _Why does this feel like I'm cheating my father? I'm pretty sure this is what I would say if I actually did get a scholarship, so why does this feel wrong._

"Barbara," Jim got up from his spot and walked towards his daughter, who got up as well. "There are sometimes when opportunities come that you just can't pass," he said while pulling Barbara into a hug. "This… this here is one of them."

"Daddy…"

"It will be an amazing experience and I trust that you will live it up to its potential. You're a good girl, Barb. You need to treat yourself too, and not worry too much about your dear old dad."

"You're not that old," Barbara said while trying to hold back tears.

"I'm pretty old and you know it. But anyway, this decision is up to you, and whatever you decide, I will support you 100 percent. Even if it means I won't be able to get any of your delicious cooking, I will by your sides always." Barbara smiled bitterly.

_Dad, your making this harder on me…_ "I love you, daddy."

Jim smiled and pulled her in tighter, "I love you too, sweetie. So how about we finish this dinner now, and think about this for a bit. When did this say you would have to leave?"

"Three weeks, on the day of graduation."

Jim stiffened, "well, that's really soon isn't it." Barbara nodded her head. Jim let out a sigh, "sometimes the best opportunities do come in a spur of a moment. You shouldn't waste those moments."

"Thanks daddy…"

* * *

Graduation day has finally arrived. So far, dad is the only one who knows of my 'scholarship'. Though, he assumes that Bruce knows about it too cause of his signature. But here I am, listening to the closing ceremony speech for end of the school year. Graduation, my last day as a highschooler. My last day as a normal teen, well I guess not that normal because I am Batgirl, my dad is a commissioner, my brother is a psychopath, and my best friend and his family are playboys by day and vigilantes by night. But still… In all honesty I thought the scholarship idea might not have worked because this is my final year in high school, but I guess in some places these chances show up to study abroad.

Right now as I look out into the crowd, I can see my dad and the Wayne family right next to each other. I'm surprised my dad has not said anything about the scholarship to Bruce. Then again I guess I'm not. My dad is probably going to wait till after I leave, because he doesn't want to believe that I'm leaving. I don't know, but that's just a hunch, and usually my hunches are correct. Like the hunch that Talia is watching me right now.

"With the end of this school year, let each student find a life they can live with and become someone who they appreciate, Ladies and gentlemen, our senior class!"

The audience erupted in applause. I can see my father staring up at me with a giant smile on his face. I couldn't help but smile back. But with each passing second, I know my time for departure draws nearer.

* * *

Barbara walked through the giant crowd of people searching for father.

"Barbara!" Barbara turned to where her name was called and saw the Wayne family waiting patiently by the side. Barbara smiled and walked up to them.

"Thank you guys, all, for coming."

"Well Dick was graduating as well…" Tim started.

"I know, but it still means a lot." Tim stared at Barbara with wide eyes, not expecting her to say such a thing or for her to walk up to him and give him a hug. Normally Barbara would not, but if this was her last day, she wanted to make sure they knew how much she appreciated them and everything they have done for her.

"Thank you, Tim. Keep on doing what you do best." Barbara released Tim, and looked at Damian. While looking at Damian, she crouched down, so she was a little shorter than Damian, and gave him a hug.

"Gordon, what are you doing?" Barbara ignored his question.

"Do me a favor and keep your brothers in line, will you?" Barbara got back up and smiled at Damian.

"Of... of course!" Damian stumbled on his words. There was a tint of a blush on his cheeks.

"Miss Gordon, your father was with us but it seems we have gotten separated," Alfred informed Barbara as she turned to him. Barbara gave him a small smile and hugged him.

"Thank you, Alfred. You have always been there for all of us whenever we needed someone. Thank you."

"Well, if telling you about your father's whereabouts led to such nice compliments, then I will have to do it more often." Barbara pulled back and saw a soft smile on Alfred's face. Barbara chuckled and turned to Bruce.

Barbara walked up to Bruce and gave him a hug. Tim and Damian stood back in shock at the fact that Bruce hugged her back.

"Don't we feel caring today?"

"Funny." Barbara let out a sigh, "Thank you, for everything." In that small amount of words, Bruce could sense a bigger meaning behind them. A meaning that she was thanking him for all the years they have been around each other, not only as Barbara and Bruce but also as Batgirl and Batman.

"Babs!" Bruce could sense something was off, but Barbara pulled away before he could whisper a response.

"Dick!" Barbara turned and was crushed into a giant hug. Dick picked her up and spun her in a circle.

"We did it Babs! High school is finally over!"

Barbara laughed, "it certainly is. I'm going to miss this." Bruce was not sure, but he had a thought that she did not only mean high school.

"What? Are you kidding me? We were just complaining about how much we wanted out of this school!" Barbara laughed again.

"True, but I'm going to miss getting to see you so often. Times are getting tough after all."

"Babs, you make it sound like you're leaving! Plus, I'll always make time for you." Barbara smiled.

"Barb! There you are!" Barbara looked up and saw her father jogging towards her.

"Dad!" Dick let go of Barbara and watched Barbara walk/run to her father.

"I'm so proud of you! You finally did it!"

"Thanks, dad… That means a lot." Jim gave his daughter a hug and kissed her forehead.

And just like that, graduation was over. It will be only a couple of hours before Barbara had to leave. All her stuff was packed and ready to go.

"Commissioner Gordon," Dick said as he walked up to the father and daughter.

"Ah, Dick, congratulations!" Jim said with a smile towards Dick and gave him a pat on the back. "Well done, my boy."

"I agree, I did not think that Richard would have made it this far," Damian said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Master Damian!" Everybody around bursted out laughing at the comment, well almost everyone. Bruce did chuckle, but he kept giving side glances towards Barbara, sensing that something was not right.

"Hey Babs, we're planning on going out to eat right now, want to join us?" Dick said with a wide smile.

Barbara looked towards her father who nodded in response. She turned her attention back to Dick, "sure, let's go!"

Dick's eyes widened, "excited aren't we? Come on!" Barbara smiled sadly as she watched Wayne family head off of the campus.

"You're going to miss them aren't you," Jim looked at his daughter.

Barbara inhaled, "Yeah, I'm going to miss them a lot."

"Well then, let us not keep them waiting." Jim put an arm around Barbara's shoulders and together they headed towards the exit following the Waynes.

* * *

For them, I would do it. They have gone through so much that they deserve to stay together. This is for them.

* * *

The lunch/dinner ended up at some extremely fancy restaurant. Everybody ordered their meals and was chatting happily. It made Barbara sad that she would not be able to watch this interaction any more, but she was glad that they were enjoying themselves. Time flew quickly, and before she knew it, it was time for Barbara to head out. She looked at her watch, a gift from Dick that seemed to always remind of her of Nightwing, and tapped her father indicating that it was almost time to go. Her father nodded and got up.

"Leaving so soon, Commissioner? No dessert? It's on me," Bruce said while getting up and fixing his jacket.

"Please no, Barbara and I have to get going, but thank you for the dinner."

"Maybe next time then, right Barbara?" Bruce looked at Barbara as he held his hand out to the Commissioner. Barbara tried to hide from Bruce's scrutinizing stare by smiling and nodding.

"Maybe when she gets…"

"Dad," Barbara interrupted her father.

"Right, we don't want to be late now. Excuse us, and thank you again." The Commissioner led the way and Barbara followed. A bunch of byes echoed each other as the Commissioner and Barbara were putting on their coats. "Ready, Barb."

"Yup," Barbara replied, but with less enthusiasm. She knew that she chose this path, but it was still hard. She looked at the group before her and smiled. She should leave them with smile, so when they remember her it might make them smile too, right?

"Wait, Babs," Dick got up from his seat and walked towards her. "Listen, everything will be okay. You seemed a little off today, and it's probably because we have to split ways but in the end, things will turn out… asterous."

Barbara smiled and gave him a hug. "Good bye, Dick. I'll miss you." _So, so much_.

"Come on, Barb." The Commissioner started heading towards the door.

"Coming, dad," the smile seemed to return to Barbara's face. Barbara turned to the Wayne family once more, "thank you all so much. You guys have always been there for me so thank you. Boys," Barbara looked at Tim and Damian, "stick together. Don't let anything bring any of you guys down."

"Of course!" Damian replied defiantly.

"As long as Damian doesn't run head first, we should be fine."

"Watch it, Drake." The brothers glared at each other, causing Barbara to chuckle.

"Alfred, keep doing what you're doing. Even though none of us say it that often, we really do appreciate everything that you do."

"Really Miss Gordon, what brings all of this on?"

Barbara shrugged, "just wanted to let you guys know. Mr. Wayne, I hope you enjoy all of this and your family."

"Naturally."

Barbara smiled, "stay strong, guys, stay strong."

"Babs, you really make it sound like your leaving." Barbara looked into Dick's deep blue eyes.

"In a way, aren't we? We are leaving our teenage life behind. Things are about to change for us."

"Yeah, but that's not going to stop us from seeing each other."

Barbara smiled at Dick, "Well, I need to go before my dad comes back here to drag me out. Thanks again!" Barbara said as she walked out of the restaurant.

"She was acting strange," Damian said aloud while watching the doors close behind Barbara.

"Indeed she was Master Damian."

"Yeah, and I don't think it was from looking at you, Damian." Damian turned his head toward Drake and glared at him.

* * *

As Barbara walked out of the restaurant, she saw her father talking to someone in front of a cab. Barbara walked closer to the two.

"Is everything alright, dad?" Barbara could tell that her father was a little annoyed.

"It seems that Bruce even called a cab to make sure that you weren't late to your flight." Barbara's eyes widened a little.

"Oh… I see. Well, that was very sweet of him."

"And here I thought I would get a couple more minutes with you." Jim ran a hand through his hair.

"Daddy…"

"Sweetie, don't start. You're going to make me sad, and I want to depart being happy." Jim hugged his daughter, "I am so proud of you. I know I told you that before, but it's the truth. Please, take care of yourself and do not forget to keep in touch."

Barbara hugged her father back, and tried to hold back her tears. "Don't worry daddy, I will contact you in some way, so don't worry too much about me." Barbara pulled back and gave her father a big smile. "Good bye, daddy. I'm going to miss you so much."

"I'm going to miss you, too." Jim kissed his daughter on her forehead, "I love you."

"I love you too, daddy."

And that was that. Jim watched as his daughter talked to the driver then got in the car. Barbara waved to her father while the car started driving away. At this time, Barbara tried to cut all of her emotional ties. She could not let any of her emotions affect her now. A tear fell down on Jim's face as he watched his little girl disappear into the night. He wiped the tear and took a deep breath.

_Ring, Ring…_

Jim instinctively pulled his phone out of his pocket and brought it up to his ear.

"Commissioner Gordon." He paused as the person on the other line was speaking, "I'll be right there." He hung the phone up then looked at the road again. "Barbara…" He looked at his watched and noticed he had time before he had to go back to the station to help some mix up. "Maybe I can grab a cup of coffee to go… It's going to be a long night." Jim walked back into the restaurant and ordered a coffee to go.

"Commissioner Gordon? I thought you left." Gordon turned around and saw the Wayne family getting ready to head out.

"Yeah well, after the cab you called in for Barbara I didn't need to drop her off any more." Bruce looked a little perplexed.

"I'm sorry, cab?"

"Oh yeah, I guess I should thank you shouldn't I?" The Wayne family had no idea what the Commissioner was talking about.

"What do you mean? Where's…?" Dick covered Tim's mouth before he could continue talking. The Commissioner already looked down, they could not add to it by making the whole situation even more confusing.

"Ah yes, I was so surprised," Dick replied trying to coax out the information.

"Me, too. One day I come home from work and she pulls out his envelope for the scholarship." _Scholarship?_ "It surprised me even more that it was a scholarship to study abroad! And for it to be right after high school. But you know Barbara, she has always wanted to go abroad to study some, and now she can. It's all thanks to you Bruce. If you didn't give her that scholarship, then she would probably be working at the library again this summer. I'm glad she was given such an amazing opportunity."

"Yes, but she deserved this," Bruce said as he had picked up all he needed to piece everything together. The Wayne family could see some sort of anger behind Bruce's mask. "I am sure she will do an amazing job with it." Jim smiled.

"Commissioner Gordon, your coffee?"

"Ah, yes… thank you." Gordon took the coffee from the waiter and gave him some money. "Keep the change. Well if you all excuse me, I need to head back to the station to fix up some paperwork. Thank you again for today and everything you have done."

"Our pleasure Commissioner," Dick replied. The family watched as Jim walked out of the restaurant before walking out. "What did she do?" Dick turned to Bruce looking for an explanation.

"Shouldn't we go after her?" Tim asked looking at Bruce.

Bruce stopped in his tracks. "Even if we did, she is probably too far from us by now."

"So you're saying we shouldn't try?" Dick said with his voice raising.

"This is Barbara were talking about, Richard. She would have planned this out for a while. But, now the question is why?" Damian said while in thought.

"What does it matter? She made up a scholarship! Isn't this basically running away from home?" Dick asked the group, "We should go after her!"

"No," Bruce looked at Dick. "It's too late, she is gone. For whatever reason she did this, we have to trust her." The others were silent.

"So everything she said today was because she was actually leaving…" Tim said as he started walking towards the car again. Damian and Alfred followed behind Tim towards the car.

"You know why she left, don't you?" Dick directed the question towards Bruce without looking at him and everyone else was out of earshot.

"I have a feeling."

"Care to share?" Bruce said nothing causing Dick to look at his father. Dick noticed which way Bruce was looking and followed his line of vision towards Bruce's son, biological son. Dick's eyes widened, "No…"

* * *

I did it for them… and only them… I was a bystander who watched their family grow. With each new member, the smiles slowly became greater. I did not want this to disappear. So for them, I left them.

* * *

A/N: I am updating my other stories as well so please do not lose hope! Thanks for reading!


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